How can Catholics for Obama rationalize their support for the pro-choice candidate?..

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A Catholic conscience is a complex thing that must rely on more than bumper stickers and impassioned rhetoric.

How can Catholics for Obama rationalize their support for the pro-choice candidate?... The moral calculus does look easy until one considers that war, torture, the death penalty, poverty, racism, and even the excesses of capitalism — those evils so well defined in Catholic social teaching, and of concern to Catholics of all political persuasions — are fully present in the act of abortion.

Consider: War is a struggle between two evolving powers over who will have dominance; whether just or unjust, it involves the murder of the innocent and the disruption of families. War introduces pain, fire, violence, savagery and... snip

Abortion providers are capitalist enterprises that often indulge in — among other things — unlicensed and unscrupulous practices and the exploitation of women in difficult circumstances, in pursuit of maximum profit.

A Catholic conscience is a complex thing that must rely on more than bumper stickers and impassioned rhetoric.

Catholicism does not reject reason for faith but demands integration of the two, and prayerful discernment, before taking any action. It serves both prayer and reason to consider that abortion is not separate from the evils of war, torture, poverty and the rest, but of a piece with them.

In fact, abortion supersedes those issues by dint of its personal nature.

Government policy affects war, poverty, and the rest, while abortion is — like the casting of a vote — a personal choice.

But it is a personal choice for the physical and intellectual internalization of war, and of torture, and of the death penalty, and of poverty, and of racism, and of capitalistic exploitation.

A Catholic conscience is a complex thing that must rely on more than bumper stickers and impassioned rhetoric.

How can Catholics for Obama rationalize their support for the pro-choice candidate?... The moral calculus does look easy until one considers that war, torture, the death penalty, poverty, racism, and even the excesses of capitalism — those evils so well defined in Catholic social teaching, and of concern to Catholics of all political persuasions — are fully present in the act of abortion.

Consider: War is a struggle between two evolving powers over who will have dominance; whether just or unjust, it involves the murder of the innocent and the disruption of families. War introduces pain, fire, violence, savagery and... snip

Abortion providers are capitalist enterprises that often indulge in — among other things — unlicensed and unscrupulous practices and the exploitation of women in difficult circumstances, in pursuit of maximum profit.

A Catholic conscience is a complex thing that must rely on more than bumper stickers and impassioned rhetoric.

Catholicism does not reject reason for faith but demands integration of the two, and prayerful discernment, before taking any action. It serves both prayer and reason to consider that abortion is not separate from the evils of war, torture, poverty and the rest, but of a piece with them.

In fact, abortion supersedes those issues by dint of its personal nature.

Government policy affects war, poverty, and the rest, while abortion is — like the casting of a vote — a personal choice.

But it is a personal choice for the physical and intellectual internalization of war, and of torture, and of the death penalty, and of poverty, and of racism, and of capitalistic exploitation.

I grew up a pro-choice Catholic. And there were a lot of us. In the same way that there are a lot of Catholics who use birth control despite the 1964 Papal message on the subject. American Catholics are less likely to unswervingly follow their leaders than other religious sects. I am not sure why this is the case.

I grew up a pro-choice Catholic. And there were a lot of us. In the same way that there are a lot of Catholics who use birth control despite the 1964 Papal message on the subject. American Catholics are less likely to unswervingly follow their leaders than other religious sects. I am not sure why this is the case.

Oddly enough I do not equate the failure of the flock to follow the dictates of the Pope on birth control with failing to follow in regards to abortion. I probably should. But I don't.

I don't believe, however, that the number of pro-choice Catholics equals the number of pro-birth control using Catholics. I have no statistics to back me up on that...just anecdotal evidence.

"Which of these comes closest to your view? Abortion should be generally available to those who want it. Abortion should be available, but under stricter limits than it is now. OR, Abortion should not be permitted."

Roman Catholics in the United States are often fairly unfamiliar with their own church doctrines. They just haven't been well taught by their parents or by their religious leadership. There are a lot of Catholics who are essentially "cultural catholics" (and Catholics aren't alone in this one). They enjoy being part of a larger community and having a certain cultural identity but they don't look too closely at the actual requirements of the faith. It's less about Rome than about fundamental truths that the Church has come to in a number of ways over time.

For these people, it's easier to retain the cultural identification and still do their own thing than to examine the requirements and determine if they are willing to abide by them - even in disagreement - or to leave.

As each generation becomes less and less familiar with the faith, more leave. The RC has retained it's membership levels only through the influx of legal and illegal immigrants in the last 30 years.